It is well known to those skilled in the art that foamed plastic surfaces may be textured by the process commonly referred to as "chemical embossing", wherein the surface of a foamable polymer composition is printed with an ink composition containing an agent which inhibits foaming in the printed areas when the foamable polymer composition is subsequently subjected to a heat treatment. The areas which have not been printed over thus expand normally on heating while expansion in the printed areas containing the inhibitor is retarded, resulting in a textured surface with depressions in those areas printed with the inhibited ink.
A wide range of compounds have been claimed to act as inhibitors for chemical embossing of floor and wall covering surfaces, including azole derivatives of benzotriazole, tolyltriazole and benzimidazole derivatives such as disclosed in copending Sideman et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 271,633, filed Jul. 7, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,563, issued Aug. 15, 1995, which application is incorporated by reference.